My Mom was a hands-on, stay-at-home Mom who knew how to cook and bake, sew, draw, play the piano, embroider, amd do oh so many things. Now that she has passed on, I remember her for all the things that she did for us as kids. And one of the things I truly remember (and miss a lot) is her home-cooked dishes.
When I went off to grad school in the States, the one thing she made sure I had with me was a box of her recipes so that I would not go hungry. That was typical Mom. Memories of Mom washed over me during the Knorr #LutongNanay event I attended recently because everything about the event reminded me of things she used to do for us as kids. I listened to celebrity Moms talk about how some of them only learned to cook when they got married but that they now draw pleasure from cooking for their families.
 |
| (L-R): Carmina Villaroel, Dimples Romano, Pia Guanio |
 |
| (L-R): Danica Sotto, Delamar, Christine Jacob |
World-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Stuart Firestein, PHD from Columbia University in New York confirmed that mom-cooked flavors actually activate memories because scents reach those parts of the brain that connect the familiar scents with past experiences with Mom. By leaving children with these wonderful flavor imprints in their brain, heart and soul, Moms leave wonderful memories up to their kids’ adulthood. Dr. Firestein says, “What continues to fascinate me is how the brain instinctively knows that certain flavors and foods have the power to mean more to us than just sustenance. This is called sensory recall and is a phenomenon which demonstrates how the brain is hard-wired to respond in certain ways to different tastes and smells. Even over time and distance, when we taste mom’s cooking, it transports us back to a special place and a unique memory”. So, so true…
Unfortunately, modern lifestyles have put pressure on young people. Compound that with the bane of Metro Manila traffic and you have single people, aged 23 to 27 roughly (and even older) who would rather go for fast food eating. As a result, many have admitted in a new research that they cannot cook.
Knorr’s #LutongNanay event was a way of showcasing so many ways to cook quick, uncomplicated dishes and we had a chance to experience just how quick it was! Here I am at Table No. 1 with Dimples Romano who shows us how to cook Tinola sa Gata.
 |
| Our cooking table with Dimples Romano |
 |
| Tinola sa Gata ingredients. They are all readily available. |
 |
| Here’s Dimples whipping up Tinola sa Gata on our side of the room. It only took her a few minutes to cook this. |
Later, I went around the other 3 tables checking what the other celebrity Mom-bassadors were whipping up. Here are the other dishes:
Here’s how to make the Tinola sa Gata:
I’ve been using Knorr products for a long time so am so relieved they have a #LutongNanay section on their website where I can go and check out easy-to-whip-up recipes. You can do the same.
For more simple and delicious recipes from #LutongNanay, visit www.knorr.com.ph. It’s not only the celebrity Moms’ recipes that are there but they’ve also posted recipes shared by other Moms. What a wonderful community!